Monday, May 5, 2008

A Slight Correction

I'm reading a little more about that Cal State professor. She doesn't want to sign the loyalty oath because she's a pacifist and a Quaker, and Quakers don't like oaths. I do believe in religious freedom, and I'd probably "affirm" rather than "solemnly swear" were I to make an oath. Believe me, I grew up as a religious minority (Armstrongism). I had to face the possibility of being suspended because I'd taken time off from school for the annual holy days. I heard of people who were fired from their jobs for resting on the Sabbath. I know that authority has a tendency to push for conformity while running over people's unpopular religious convictions.

So I take back what I said about this woman being on a power trip. But I'll keep it in my post, for I do believe that many professors who howl the loudest about academic freedom suppress it themselves in their own classrooms.